How Early Trauma Impacts Communication & Engagement

Communication is an essential part of our daily lives. It allows us to connect with others, share our thoughts and feelings, and build relationships. But what happens when trauma and mental illness impact our ability to communicate effectively?

As someone who has experienced complex trauma and mental illness firsthand, I know all too well the difficulties that can arise with communication, engagement, and participation. From struggling to stay focused and recall information to finding it challenging to socialize and participate in group activities, trauma and mental illness can significantly impact our ability to communicate.

Growing up, I absolutely detested English class. Essays, creative writing, and later on, reports in university and work, were a complete nightmare for me. It felt like my brain refused to process and make sense of the words on the page, and I couldn’t create order out of all the ideas swirling around in my head. I couldn’t think clearly and logically about what the task required of me. Reading was incredibly challenging, and I found myself re-reading the same line multiple times without ever comprehending its meaning.

But it wasn’t just academics that posed a challenge. Communicating effectively and confidently in social situations was a daunting task. I often found myself struggling to speak up for myself, knowing what to say and how much to say, answering questions, and maintaining conversations.

What’s interesting is that I never received any cognitive, developmental or attention-related diagnoses. It was all trauma and mental health. It’s not just anecdotal evidence that supports this idea either. Research and evidence show that trauma and mental illness can significantly affect communication and engagement. Let’s see what the research says below.

Overview

Source: https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/images/acestudy/ace_pyramid_lrg.png?_=02021

Understanding the impact of developmental trauma is crucial for speech therapists working with clients who have experienced adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). The CDC-Kaiser ACE Study is a seminal piece of research that investigated the effects of ACEs on life, health, and well-being, revealing some heartbreaking findings. While there’s an overwhelming amount of information available, I’ll highlight what I consider to be the most relevant for speech therapists. To make it easier to comprehend, the researchers created a pyramid that visually represents how childhood adversity can impact individuals throughout their lifespan. So, let’s dive in and explore the impact of ACEs on communication and how speech therapists can incorporate a trauma-informed approach to help their clients.

Brain Functioning

Developmental trauma can have a profound and lasting impact on cognitive functioning, often resulting in delays in key areas such as:

Working memory
- Responsible for holding and manipulating information in the short-term
- Difficulty can make it challenging to remember instructions, follow complex tasks, or retain basic information
Visual processing
- Critical for tasks such as reading and recognizing faces
- Difficultly can make it challenging for individuals to learn new words, follow visual cues, or even recognise familiar objects or people
Attention and concentration
- Difficulty can make it challenging for individuals to stay focused on tasks, follow conversations, or engage in group activities. This can lead to frustration and anxiety, which can further compound the difficulties faced by individuals with developmental trauma
Engagement and learning
- Difficulty can make it hard to engage with others or participate in group activities. This can lead to social isolation, which can further exacerbate the effects of developmental trauma
Information processing
- A skill for making sense of information
- Difficulty can result in challenges with problem-solving, decision-making, and comprehension
Regulation
- This includes emotional regulation such as the regulating of stress, anxiety and anger
- Difficulty in this area can impact relationships with others, as individuals may have difficulty responding appropriately in social situations. It can also affect focus and learning, as they may become more frequently overwhelmed and have difficulty processing information.

These difficulties can be overwhelming and frustrating for those who experience them, affecting effective communication and meaningful engagement. For speech pathologists, understanding the potential impact of developmental trauma on these areas of cognitive function is essential in providing effective care. By recognising the potential barriers to communication and learning that individuals with developmental trauma may face, speech pathologists can develop strategies and interventions that are tailored to support the unique needs of each individual. This can help to support our clients in overcoming these challenges, promoting better engagement, participation, and learning.

Communication Skills

Developmental trauma can have significant impacts on communication skills, and it’s essential to understand these impacts to provide appropriate support and care for those affected.

Language

When it comes to language, individuals who have experienced developmental trauma may have increased difficulty with vocabulary, grammar, and oral language. These individuals may have difficulty finding the right words, with sentence structure, and conveying thoughts and ideas clearly.

Literacy

Literacy can also be impacted, particularly in the area of reading comprehension. This can lead to difficulties in understanding written information and comprehending the meaning of text, which can impact academic performance and social engagement.

Social Communication

Social communication can also be impacted by developmental trauma, particularly in the areas of social cognition, perspective-taking, and narrative discourse. Social cognition involves understanding social situations and being able to respond appropriately. Perspective-taking, or the ability to understand another person’s thoughts, feelings, and motivations, can also be impacted, affecting social relationships. Narrative discourse refers to the ability to tell a story with a clear beginning, middle, and end, and developmental trauma can impact this skill as well.

Non-verbal pragmatics, such as body language and facial expressions, can also be impacted. Individuals may have difficulty interpreting non-verbal cues, which can impact understanding of and responding in certain social situations. Finally, the use of varied communicative functions, such as asking questions, expressing opinions, and making requests, can also be impacted by developmental trauma.

Speech

When it comes to speech, developmental trauma can impact prosody, or the rhythm and melody of speech, as well as motor skills involved in speaking. Prosody is essential for conveying emotion and meaning in speech, and individuals who have experienced trauma may have difficulty using appropriate prosody. Additionally, motor skills involved in speaking, such as articulation and voice control, can also be impacted.

In summary, developmental trauma can have a range of impacts on communication skills, including difficulties with language, literacy, social communication, non-verbal pragmatics, and speech. By understanding these impacts, speech therapists can provide appropriate support and care to help those impacted by developmental trauma.